She stared at the empty space on the beach that had a squared mark where before a blue police box was parked. She thought of how, in the blink of an eye, it was gone. Again.
Emptiness filled her heart and her eyes stated to burn by fighting off the tears.
And then someone squeezed her hand.
"Rose." His voice called her, in a low tone. Just the way it did years before, in a dream. She thought of how her own name sounded different and new if said by this voice. Only this voice.
She blinked once, slowly and let go off a breath that she didn't realise she's been holding.
He called her again, his voice even lower.
She took a deep breath and turned to look at him.
His big chocolate brown eyes were looking at her, searching.
"I'll be okay." She said, reassuring him. Rose knew that saying she was okay now was a lie and she didn't want to start this (whatever this ended up being) by lying. Maybe she wasn't fine now but time heals wound made inside. And that half time lord came with all the knowledge of time from the original one so he should understand the need of time.
"Let's go." She said, giving a gentle tug on his hand.
They walked side by side and hand in hand like thousand times before but they both knew this time it was different. It was something new.